Although the transfer window has shut down permanently for this season and will not re-open again until a few weeks after Arsenal have potentially had their celebratory Premier League winners’ open bus parade, but the transfer speculation is already in full swing. The news is so surprising that it has to be shared with Arsenal fans because this really would be one massive shock if it happened.

In most circumstances, rumours are nothing more than pure speculation made up by the media in order to sell their papers. However every now and then there is an eye-catching story that comes out that is either so predictably true or would be a massive shock. This is the latter and luckily (or for some unluckily) it is double trouble with the news that former Gunners Ashley Cole and Robin Van Persie could be in line for a return to the Emirates.

In a stunning turn of events, it is being reported by several national newspapers including the latest from The Independent that Ashley Cole could re-sign for Arsenal. The current Chelsea left back left the Gunners rather famously in what turned out to be one of the worst pieces of business agreed in Arsene Wenger’s reign. Ashley Cole swapped North London for West London whilst William Gallas travelled in the opposite direction along with £5 million. The move was completely money orientated and Cole has never been forgiven for his actions, especially for the fact he was a lifelong Arsenal fan beforehand.

In rather similar circumstances, Arsenal saw another Gunners legend and lifelong Arsenal fan leave the club for one of their rivals on the back of manipulation and contractual disagreements, when then club captain Robin van Persie swapped the red and white of Arsenal for the blood red of the Devils, Manchester United. It was a move that sparked much hate, disagreement and unravelled great concern for the Gunners. However, again in sensational circumstances, Arsenal find themselves being linked with the Dutchman. Van Persie could be in line for the United exit door if Rooney signs a new deal with the current EPL champions, because he apparently has a rocky relationship with David Moyes (but what is there to say Moyes will still be there in the summer). The Mirror is one of many national newspapers heading the report but once again as with Ashley Cole it all seems a little uncertain.

As fans of football we have to admit that they are still both very good players and could add that extra special ability as well as experience if they were to re-join the Gunners. However I think their past with the club has been completely destroyed and so although they would offer the side something, for a relatively cheap price (Cole out of contract and RVP’s valuation is now £15m) I don’t think either Wenger or the management team would look at such transfers.

They must be aware that the lo0ng-suffering fans would have a very hard time welcoming either of these players back. The only time we want to see their faces is when Arsenal lift the Premier League trophy this year. Now Cesc Fabregas, that is a different matter, but as he now seems to be a fixture of the Barcelona team, that will probably not be happening either.

Don’t make it sooo big. It will be a though match… but for us we will be looking for another 3 points my friend. I would take Cesc back and I do have a feeling he will be back at the club by next season. fuk vanpussy and cashly, their careers are done

RVP left to win trophy quickly.
Cole left for money.
Fabregas left for…I don’t know, trophy? or missed Barcelona?
Flamini just left, and just came back, I don’t think it had anything to do with not winning/wining trophies.

We also needed DMF. If the other players come back it will disrupt the team.

I said it before I say it now, there is something going on with cesc. He isn’t happy at all at Barca

Xavi just stated in his press conference, “I won’t leave the team I support and love, I won’t leave like cesc fabregas did to go arsenal”- isnt that a little odd? Isn’t it just a tad over the top to single him out like that?

It’s not just a football decision anymore, like how you feel when you know your loved ones are home and warm, safe and sound and happy, I want cesc back. This is his true home, we are his true family, he is the prodigal son. COME HOME!

It sickens me to see the lack of respect and support he gets, it’s all 60-40 against him and its sickening! IDC if he left, that’s dead and burried. He’s not van persie, he’s el captino! I know he wants it just as we do, look at him I guarantee he won’t be so glum at arsenal!

I WILL NEVER LET GO IM AFRAID SO DEAL WITH IT, COME HOME CESC FABREGAS!

Captain Cesc?That word can be used only for a few players,like Adams,Gerrard,Totti..
Cesc was captain for 3 years.He begged to leave us,he was willing to pay us in order to give him to Barcelona.Personally,I wouldn’t welcome him back

Not captain but I can’t understand this hatred for players just leaving clubs. Are every player bound to play their careers in one club? RVP, Cashley, Adebayor all disrespected our club ( their actions, demanding a move to rival club) so hatred for them is justified. Far as I know Cesc didn’t. He was picked up as a mere 16-year old from Barca so give it a rest if he wanted to go home. Now he has maybe realized it was a wrong choice but that can happen. He’s only a human.

@jushilis,
Exactly on the same train of thought. They did what they thought was best for their career’s. They are human beings like us so I can’t get the deep hatred just because he switched clubs. It’s not like Arsenal did their best also to keep RVP. Look at the Suarez situation…look at the Lewandowski situation.
For me, I was pretty upset at RVP’s move but a lot of it had to do with Arsene Wenger and Arsenal rather than RVP himself. I was pissed at RVP for a day but moved on because when I thought about it he seemed to be making the right decision to me. And his decision has been justified because after 9 years of being in the EPL he finally lifted the EPL trophy. We are yet to prove we made the right decision letting him go because we still haven’t won NOTHING.

I agree. Cesc was always honourable even in the way he left. Cole is a total jerk, a complete write-off. The RVP saga I would put down as 50% RVP 50% AW in terms of blame. RVP shouldn’t have gone to ManU but why wasn’t he sold to (e.g.)Juventus. It was down to Wenger being a penny-wise pound-foolish tight arse as usual. Both betrayed the fans in what they did, if anything Wenger is more culpable because he should have known better.

Have to agree with you about Cesc, It was always clear from the start that Cesc was a barcelona fan and that they were his boyhood club and that one day he would end up back there, however in his time at Arsenal he came to love the club and the fans loved him and i’m sure i speak for many when i say i bear him no ill will in leaving,
As for the other two yokes, firstly Cole. a pure tramp without a shred of loyalty or morals no loyalty to Arsenal or his wife couldn’t give a shite about either, also look at the way he snarls around the pitch when playing always bloody moaning, just a nasty nasty man.
Secondly van persie, seven seasons at Arsenal long term injuries for six of them, Arsenal stand by him for all of that, then one injury free season, Manure wave the wad and he’s gone like a rat up a drainpipe,
As i said in my earlier comment let them lie in their beds !

I’d sign them (Pursestrings and Cashley) back and let them rot on the Reserves bench. Will always love Cesc though but to be honest is there any space in that midfield? but then again competition is always welcome.

Arteta especially, Carzorla and Flamini are hitting their upper years in the footballing life. Cesc would be a smart buy back. RVP will even be a smarter purchase at a price half or below half the size of what we sold him for and still be able to sign 1 more striker…but we know the kind of manager we are dealing with. He will probably go and sign a retired Alan Shearer and say he had 20 minutes to make the decision when he had 4/5 months.

Cesc walks straight into the team, he is better than any midfielder we have, sorry but he is a level above. With him we dominated every game, apart from when we played Barcelona, lets be honest, no team can have better possession than Barca, we created clear cut chance after chance with Cesc.. I would take him in a blink..

He had the attitude but the team around him did not. You don’t become the highest chance creator for 5 seasons if your attitude ain’t right. He did what he had to do and the rest had to do their bit, we had a joke defence, the whole team defended like school kids, the board and Wenger never invested in the team, instead they just kept selling and not reinvesting. How is that Cesc’s fault?

I didnt say he didnt créate mate, he played wonderfully and still does, I am talking about attitude…whenever cameras were onto him his face was like if he was going to start crying, desperate, sad to be there…now you look at Flamini, Arteta, Santi, Jacky, Rambo, I mean, these faces scream “come on I will fight you even if Howard Webb is the referee”…and lets not even talk avout the faces outside the midfield…Poldi, Kos, Scszesny, Per Mer,

Cole 3 years ago maybe. RVP and Cesc…YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Sorry I don’t share the same hatred for RVP because I kinda understand why he left(more should have been done financially to keep him+plus signing a player like Giroud was probably perceived by him as further lack of ambition, imagine if we signed a player like Ozil then pretty sure RVP will still be at Arsenal now). He is welcome back anytime.
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!…..Flight of the Valkyries…….

for those of you doesnt want cesc back, how does it feel if cesc join our rival? im sure you will hate him and said why do you want to join them? better stay at barca or play in other league instead playing with our rival. than you will realize that you still love cesc and dont want him to be a traitor like cashley cold & robbeb in van purse si & same in nashit…

for him to join barca is still can be considered because there is where he came from…probably at that time in his heart…50.1% he is barca & 49.9% he is the gunners…he one to play with his childhood friends while they are still in prime…but he knows and he is really sure 1 day he will be back to play with arsenal before he finish his career…if arsenal want to except him back…

to cesc…we hope you read this because we still and always except you back to arsenal football club as long as you didnt join any our rival and as long as the arsenal board & management want to bring you back…

we know you will be usefull in the next few years especially rosicky, arteta & flamini is getting older…that place is up to you to grab it…

for the first time he left arsenal fc he became our potential rival….in the champions league he is our rival anyway so….he can go were he wants…van pussy is at man u and we are above them anyway…what i m saying you cannot be captain of a club of arsenal stature and want to leave…

I would start either of Rosicky or The Ox on the bench, we need some options on the bench, if they all get tired we can’t change. Start our Rosicky on the bench and play The Ox in the Attacking Midfield where he started against Palace, then we can bring on Rosicky in the second half..

Cesc is my fav player. In terms of adding him, Arsenal are stockpiled at his position. We’d have to get rid of Ozil or Santi if we bringing Cesc back. Ozil and Santi came to Arsenal in their prime. Cesc left when he was entering his prime. Doesn’t reflect good on the club by adding Cesc if Arsenal have more than capable players at the position (bad business). Our focus should be on position of weakness and they currently are:

ST – world class required – Don’t want to say RVP but who else can be get in the summer that is better? Draxler at this stage is likely not good enough to pose a title threat as he’s not a natural striker.

LW – world class required – If we acquire a striker other than Draxler than I want Draxler for this position. If Draxler is the one to fill the striker void, go after Reus.

DM – world class required – Bender or Pogba. A player that can step in and play the position for years upon years.

You invest into those 3 positions by adding world class talent and we’ll win the league.

Positions we need to add depth to include CB and RB. We can add younger players that can be nurtured by the player currently occupying the position:
CB – young replacement for Per should be added
RB – someone more capable than Jenkinson

Mate but those players in his position don’t give us what CESC used to give us or will give us. Fabregas ran our midfield from the back, center and upfront, he unlocked defences from anywhere across the pitch, his long range passing, his over the Top defence splitting passes, his intelligent Ozil kind of defence splitting passes in and around the opposition box, Ozil has to be next to the penalty box to give a defence splitting pass, Cesc does not, he can split the defence on the halfway line, no other Arsenal mid can do that. They all have to be close to the opposition penalty box to be effective. I would take CESC with not thinking, the rest of our midfielders just feed on Cesc, he is a midfield general.

Cesc was the heartbeat of Arsenal and he left it to play for a special team in an insignificant role. Barca being his childhood team or not, Arsenal was beginning to take its shape and he left which was the nail in the coffin. If Cesc would of stayed, RVP would of as well. Cesc was still young when he decided to leave. I think he’ll regret his decision to leave once his playing career is over.

RVP is undeniably a world-class striker, but I wouldn’t want to have him back due to the risks involved. He is entering the ‘ageing 30s’ and has suffered lots of injuries during this season. It’s such a gamble and goes against Wenger’s transfer policy to spend so much for such a player. Now you could say, ‘why not take a risk (like Ferguson did with him) and hope he becomes a massive player for the club?’. Well, that’s roughly 15m or so that could be invested in new faces and younger talent.

I think most here always think with their heart and that will lead you into a lot of lose-lose situations. If thinking with the mind 1st was exercised more often then the issue of clouded judgement and irrational decisions based on feelings would be eradicated. RVP the player not RVP but RVP the player/footballer is just what almost every Arsenal fan is praying for right now. However because of some emotional whatever or tunnel vision(call it what you want) which I hardly get because most of them would have probably made the same decision in his shoes they can’t make the right assessment of the situation.

If you use your mind more often to analyze situations you will decipher that there are some parallels between what your heart desires/wants and what your mind wants. For example, to win trophies, for Arsenal to become a force again etc. On the contrary, if you always use you heart for decisions then you will almost never find parallels between your mind and heart that could essentially be beneficial to you. Just saying.

Hey slow down a bit. … couldn’t media can’t stand coz we are in the top? I notice nowadays like in Dortmund, two people are waving club flag when we score.. I can buy vanpussy and cashley to wave the flag… now let’s discuss the real topic.. is ox can field alongside arteta, I think he yet to master midfield. What do u think gonners?

Yeah I noticed, no one is applauding Arsenal for being at the top, but people be talking about how Arsenal could loose to Liverpool, and the downfall of Arsenal…I thought sport shows presenters are not suppose to be biased.

Appluading Arsenal for being top now is like applauding the guy in a 100m olympic race who at 50m is the 1st and in front of Usian Bolt. But we know how that has always ended. Just wait for the egg to hatch itself, a bird is born.

If CESC came back I would be on clod 9.. No other midfielder comes close a fit and firing Cesc. He just dominated games, created chance after chance for our poor strikers who could not finish.. I hope he comes back 1 day, it will not happen but he is the best midfielder I have ever watched at Arsenal..

Slating cesc 4 leaving us is 1 thing but doubting his quality is another, u there compare cesc 2 our current midfield? Really? Our team is so much beyyer now and ballanced, barring vamaelin we did not hav any other deffender! Squilaci,toure, gallas n djorou were crab, and almunia wuold not hav made it into a stoke team that full of rugby players, yet he was our keeper! He could do just abt anythang wit de ball 4rm anywere on de pitch! He was that gud! Cuz of injuries he played hav de games half of de games other top playmakers played buh he created twice the chances they created, how many of our current midfielders will l cum back 4rm injury and still perform? It takes them 5-6 macthes to get back to their best, buh cesc was disfferent, it does matter how long he was out he alsways perform. I hav never seen anthing like him, ozil is a worldclass player, he worth 40+ plus 2day but we knw cesc was worth 60 three years ago. His only crime was wanting to play in front of his family in his home land, how dare u compare cesc to traitors who think other clubs were better than us! They put themselves above our club! cesc never put barcelona above us just dat it was his home! Henry left just 4 1 thing and we knw it but he still remains our king! I’LL WELCOME HIM HOME TOMORROW! Cuz there is simly no 1 better!!!

Hi Fans! Arsène Wenger isnt stupid. He knows that Poldi is too bad for arsenal. Poldi is slow, his head is only down because his technic is horroble, he shots blind, he dont use his head….a.s.o .please stop playing football for my favorite Clubs Arsenal and the german national Team poldi